Abundance resonates with creativity and living from the overflow and knowing there is enough. It is a consciousness in which no fear exists. Abundance relates to self-esteem, prosperity, time, relationships, career, nature, money, vacations, rest, work, sexuality, laughter, confidence. Everything!!!

Abundance: What it is; What it isn't

Here's a concept that is the basis of many of my thoughts and practices about abundance: Abundance and money are not the same. Nor is either the same as prosperity. We can learn about abundance using money as a vehicle, but the two are not synonymous. I believe that if we all unhook from the belief that money and prosperity and abundance are the same, we will experience more of all three! Each of us has a right to be inundated with all three, if that is our desire.

Someone can have a lot of money, yet live in poverty consciousness. Someone can easily meet financial commitments, yet feel sadly lacking in confidence or friends or competence or joy. We can use anything to experience abundance: dead leaves in the forest, the ocean, food, mountains, paper, trust, money, confidence, skills, anything! Abundance is about unlimited consciousness, not physical things. The consciousness of abundance creates those things.

An Over-arching Intention

I advocate identifying an intention for all new explorations and ventures. Intention is the energy or consciousness from which actions emerge. An over-arching intention is a broad intention that can guide your vision and direction. Here are a few suggestions for statements of intention about the theme of Abundance:

To live in the constant realization that all my needs are met.I realize that I manifest from Spirit, not from the physical.To know in each moment that I create my life from the abundance of the universe.I know that all my needs are met.

A Challenge

I challenge you in this way: Stop yourself from affirming your lack or your lack consciousness. Make it into a game. The more anti-abundance thoughts you catch and stop, the better. Listen to the words you say out loud as well as to the thoughts you keep in your head. Here are a few examples of common expressions that affirm lack, limitation, or poverty:

I (We) don't have any (or enough) money / time / skills.

I (We) can't afford that.

I'm no good. I'm not enough.

I'm afraid I (we) won't have enough money.

I worry about money / time / job / someone else / myself.

I can't ever seem to get ahead.

I'm depressed / powerless / a victim.

You get the idea. And, of course, there are many variations on not-enough expressions. In fact, such expressions are in too great an abundance! These emerge from a strongly held belief in limitation. Individuals have colluded with each other to continue to perpetuate this belief. Incidentally, if you try to prove that your belief in limitation or lack is justified, then you are arguing for limitations. You have a right to do this, but I think it's important that you know the consequences: your arguments -- especially vehement arguments -- about limitations create the experiences that manifest further limitations.

So, here are a few alternative expressions to help you to transition out of the not-enough-money cycle:

I choose to spend my money on something else.

I know that all my needs are met.

I am fed by the Divine.

I love money.

Here is a vacuum created to be filled with money.

I open a space so that money can flow in.

And some alternatives on non-money lack belief:

I have all I need.

I have all the ______ I need / want / desire / choose.

I am powerful.

I am joyful / happy / peaceful.

I am in charge of my life.

My thoughts produce my experiences.

Another Challenge

Many people stay in a consciousness of lack, limitation, depression, or victim because of telling and retelling and retelling yet again the same same same story. It's a bit like memorizing a script and spewing out the words when the right cue comes along. If you have a depressing or disempowering story that you tell repeatedly, identify it. And then select one of the following suggestions to come to closure on it. Each retelling locks the thoughts in more deeply, creating more of the same experiences.

1. Resolve to tell it one more time. This time, tell it to someone who agrees to listen to you with 100% of his or her attention, without judgments or sympathy or advice or suggestions for resolution. Deep listening is the greatest gift we can give each other. The philosophy behind this suggestion is that you are more likely to give up this story if you feel someone you trust has heard you deeply. Move forward with your life.

2. An alternative to the above is to act out the depressing or dis-empowering story either alone or with a trusted audience. Exaggerate all the points of the story so that it is so big and out of proportion that the memory fades from a barrier in your life to a small speck that can be flicked away. Move forward with your life.

3. Understand that each retelling is an opportunity for you to learn something new. Watch for the learning. If there is no new learning, consider that you are complete. Move forward with your life.

4. Write an article, letter, or journal entry about it. (Note: that says "write" not "publish." Let this be the last -- unless, of course, you want to keep manifesting the story. Move forward with your life.

Let the past be the past. Live in the present. It is in the present moment that you are creating your future. The fullness of time is in the present moment - now that is abundance!

This one is for my Maimeó (Irish for grand mother), who passed away in 2013. I was her live in care-giver and death midwife. The Book that I am altering is Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (one of her many favorite writers). I acquired my love of reading (and my love of art and herbs, among other things.... from my grandmother - who raised me most of my childhood. The page with the boat is from her last few days. She was both in this world and the other, and she would tell me of her progress of building her boat (her father built boats) and stocking it, and getting it ready for her journey and for those she was taking with her. It is a re-remembering not only of my grandmother but of myself through her, of the medicine she brought (and continues to bring) to me, to our family, and to all whose lives she touched. I have 330 pages to go! phew.

The inside front cover, not yet complete but already perfect.

Maimeó loved all birds and flowers.

I am creating a garden in her memory as she loved to garden and have her flowers, herbs and plants around.

My grandmother loved flowers and herbs and gardening. She was friend to butterflies and said the Kingfisher brought abundance.

In her last days she told me her story. She was building a boat for her journey and stocking it for those who were traveling with her.

Guest Post by Lori Radun

Journaling is a great way to practice self-care. In ten minutes, you can renew your spirit, relax your body and nurture your creativity.

When many of us think of self-care, we immediately think about all the things we should be doing for ourselves but aren’t. We remind ourselves we should exercise or start eating healthy. We might even think about getting out to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend. Some moms express a desire to spend more time with God. If we’re really fantasizing about self-care, we might even dream about getting a massage, taking a nap, or going away to a spa for the weekend. But the reality is moms struggle to practice self-care. It’s not that they don’t want to; it’s just that there is a belief that everything else has to get done first. The problem with that belief is that everything else never gets done; moms always have something more to do.

I’m not going to preach to you about why you should practice self-care, or give you the many benefits of regular self-care. You know all these things already. I do want to talk to you about a simple self-care practice that you can do everyday for five to ten minutes. Anyone, no matter how busy, can create five to ten minutes for themselves.

Journaling is a means to dump your brain, connect to your soul, encourage yourself, and relax your body. Journaling is simply a way to transfer you onto paper through a pen, pencil, marker or crayon. Here are some creative ways to practice self-care through journaling.

Release Negative Emotions

If you’re feeling bottled up with anger, guilt, fear or sadness, let it go on paper. Take 10 minutes to let the emotions flow. Don’t hold back; no one is going to see your journal. Emotions are only temporary if you release them. If you hold onto them, however, you will remain stuck in the negative energy.

Spiritual Renewal and Clarity

Use your journal to write a letter to God. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Ask Him for clarity around whatever issue is causing confusion for you. Ask God to take your anger or fear so you don’t have to hang on to it anymore. Have a conversation with Him just like He is your best friend.

Practice Gratitude

It sure is easy to focus on everything that is left to be done, or all the mistakes you made today as a mom. Use your journal to notice all that you have to be thankful for. Record every little moment that touched your heart during the day. Remember all the smiles, the simple things you sometimes take for granted, and anything else that will connect you to love.

Encourage Yourself

Get out that journal and make a list of all the great things you said and did today. Don’t be so hard on yourself. If you got a load of laundry done, write it down. That’s an accomplishment. Remind yourself of all your strengths instead of focusing on your weaknesses. You made someone laugh today…good for you!

Express Your Creativity

A journal can be used to capture all your creative ideas. I keep a creative idea notebook because the ideas are always coming, but I don’t always have time to implement them. What other ways do you like to express yourself creatively? Do you like to draw, write poems, or create systems to organize your life? Spend some time being creative.

Self-Discovery

You can do free flowing journaling where anything that is on your mind is written on the page. However, you can also do guided journaling where you focus on answering one particular question that’s aimed at learning more about yourself. Examples of guided journaling questions would be:
What inspires me?
What are my strongest qualities?
What triggers me emotionally?
What is important to me in friendship?
What stops me from living the life that is most important to me?

Relax Your Body

Coloring is a great way to relax your mind and body. Use your journal to doodle and reflect. Have fun with color. Transform the page to reflect your mood. Think about whatever you like or don’t think about anything at all. Just color and relax.

Pick a time throughout your day or evening to spend some time journaling. If you’ve never tried to journal, give it a shot. What do you have to lose? I could go on and on about the success stories my clients have had with journaling, but you have to try it for yourself. If you’re a regular at journaling, try some of these new ideas.

Sandy Grason, the author of Journalution says "The beauty of journaling is that it's not just about recording and interpreting, it has the power to change who you are. Journaling changes the way you think and feel about your world, because you start to notice more of your life. You find yourself more 'in the moment' than you have ever been. You find yourself more you than you have ever been."

The magic of creativity is simply the ability to look at the ordinary and see the extraordinary. It's a force in all of us and we can all learn to harness it.

There is something magical and mysterious about the word creativity. It's a word that is bantered around mainly when referencing artists, musicians or writers. Creativity however, is something that all of us have and it's something that can be harnessed in all of our lives.

Creativity is often thought of as something that is larger than life - something that is out of our grasp. I disagree. I believe creativity is an attitude and we all have control of our attitudes and therefore control of our creativity. As long as we have the willingness to explore our world outside of our comfort zone and with a renewed since of purpose, we will find creativity.

Every Act can be a Creative one.

"I think many of us were raised thinking that we couldn't be creative. When I was growing up, creativity was always related to art, and art to painting and sculpture. If you weren't an artist, forget it, you weren't creative. But, if creativity is just falling in love with the world, then everything I do can be a creative act." - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

Not everyone is an artist and we all do not express ourselves in artist ways, but we all can be creative. Creativity isn't something beyond our normal lives. It isn't something that is pulled out when we need an extraordinary act. Creativity is available and used in our everyday lives. We find creativity as parents when we find new ways to effectively raise our children. When we are at work, we find news ways to get our assignments done. Creativity is there at every moment and within the grasp of every person. As Dewitt says, we just need to fall in love with the world and what we are doing.

Creativity is a Matter of Perspective

"Creativity is a matter of perspective. As a photographer, the first thing I have to decide is 'What lens do I have on my camera?' In other words, what perspective can I take on this problem to help me find the extraordinary in the ordinary view?" - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

When we look at a task or a problem, we have a tendency to look at it in the same way. Just like a photographer changing a lens on his camera, we need to change our lens to see things from a different perspective. Look at the task and decide what areas need deserve the most attention. Maybe we need to look at the big picture for a while more than the details. Or maybe even put ourselves in another person's shoes. Write down all the different aspects of your task and examine them one by one.

There's More Than One Right Answer

"There's more than one right answer. It seems so simple, but it is the key to creativity. There are a thousand ways to come at a problem to find creative solutions. I know that clearly from my photography, but sometimes it is so hard to bring over into the rest of my life." - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

Many times we gravitate to order and rules and expect life to have a definable path. But life rarely works that way. There are a thousand different ways to approach a situation and many of them are good ways. When we find the first right answer we need to be careful to look further. Always, look for a different angle and never settle for the first right answer.

Reframe Problems into Opportunities

"When you come at the world with a sense of abundance rather than scarcity, you get more and more comfortable reframing problems into opportunities, finding new angles, coming at the same elements from a totally different direction, and being confident that the next right answer will be there." - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

We are used to the traditional thought that every situation involves a winner and a loser, but in fact the world is full of possibility and there is room for many winners. We have a tendency to look at the world as one of scarcity but when we open up our minds and see that every problem is an opportunity and that the world is full of opportunities our attitude changes and we begin to see all of the possibilities.

Don't be Afraid to Make Mistakes

"If I were afraid of mistakes, this is the kind of photograph [the first picture he took of his daughter] that would cause me to put my cameras in the closet and never take them out again. But I don't even think about it. I'm just looking for the next right answer. Do you know that the average Geographic article is shot in 400 rolls of film? That's over 14,000 images to get 30! I'm not worried about making a few mistakes. " - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

If we worry about making mistakes, then we will get nowhere. As Thomas Edison famously said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work." Every single successful person has failed more times than they have been successful.

Break the Pattern

"When we're not afraid to make mistakes and when we believe there's more than one right answer, that's when we begin to break the patterns in our lives." - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

By definition, we have to break a pattern to be creative. If we are doing something different then we are breaking patterns. It's human nature to become bound by conventions, but if we are to find our creativity we need to move forward and jump off into the great unknown. It's the only way.

Train your Technique

"We have to train our technique. That's critical, because vision without technique is blind. In photography, I want my technique honed to a razor's edge, so that when there is a decisive moment, I'm not worrying about what film is in my camera. I'm there, ready to capture that extraordinary view." - Dewitt Jones

Unless we have trained ourselves and honed our techniques, then we are blind to opportunities. No matter how open our minds are to possibilities, if we don't have a skill then we don't have the tools to take advantage of them. Fine-tune your craft and then when opportunity meets preparation - you will be ready.

You have to Really Care

"When the people I photograph know that they are as important to me as my pictures, they open like flowers. And I find that the light that really illuminates my pictures is not the light from the outside - it's the light from within." - Dewitt Jones, Everyday Creativity

If you really care about what you do and the people you work with everything becomes easier. A light will open up in your heart and the heart of the people you work with. Rarely do we accomplish anything alone. Have passion and everything will come together.

We all have the ability to be creative. It's not just a mysterious talent owned by artists, photographers, musicians and actors. Every day in every part of our lives it's there. We just need to change our attitude and look for the possibilities. Dewitt Jones says it best, "Believe it and then you will see it."

Ever Since my son took his first baby steps out into the world, I showed him the sacredness of all nature. I also helped him to discover his own unique connection to her - mother earth.

Today, I was going through old image files on my external drive when I came across these artworks from 2009. Six years ago when my son was just 8 years old, we created these pieces from litter we found as we were taking a walk.

We had just moved to a small city, after living way out in the country. Everything was a new experience for him. As we walked he started to notice the litter that lay on the sides of the road and, occasionally on the sidewalk.

When we cut through a parking lot of a chain drug store he suddenly stopped and asked, "Why is all this garbage everywhere? Why can't they just throw it away? There are garbage bins right there!"

What do you say as a parent? How do you explain the literal dissociation of people to the very thing that gives us all life? So, I said, "Why don't we set an example? Let's pick up as much as we can while we are here."

I went into the drug store and bought a couple of waters, and asked for an extra bag at the checkout. We began picking up pieces of plastic, wrappers, and other miscellaneous items (it is amazing what you find trying to clean up a parking lot!).

My son had wandered a bit over from me and as I looked I found him kneeling and looking intently at something on the ground. When I walked over I seen that he had been arranging bits of things that he had found. "Look! I'm making a boat", he explained as I walked up.

So I brought out more pieces from my own bag and continued with the litter sculpture together.

I loved watching his creative mind at work as he placed and replaced pieces. I noticed how he had an eye for flow an movement. How he walked around until he found something red. Because "you always need at least a little bit of red."

We continued on for two more works of art and then I pulled out my little point and shoot and took these photos of each one. It was a great life learning opportunity. Not only did we do a little to help clean up junk and set an example to any who saw us that day, but my son was also able to incorporate creative thinking.

As I sit here tonight, looking back from that day to this I feel a sense of joy, as a mother that those first teachings, in his youngest years, have stayed with him. I feel a sense of hope that he, among many young people, will go out into the world with a deeper perspective.

What are your experiences with your children and the environment?

I've written a few times (mostly on my Facebook art page) over this past winter how I am transitioning back to natural elements with my artwork. I had gone through a deep winter drop where I really sat with myself... asking questions... where are you yearning for? where is your heart leading you? The answer each time was home. But, "what do you mean home?" I would wonder. And then, it came to me. Home to me is in nature and I had over the past few years, slowly been drifting farther and farther away.

Connection with the natural world has always been an integral part of my life since a young child, and so when I found myself in 2007 moving from living off the land, out in the country into a small city I told myself that it was temporary and that I would work my way back. In the meantime I would still be able to spend time in nature by camping, and taking hikes on near by ice-age trails (Wisconsin is full of them). I would be able to garden, and still incorporate and sustain my deep connection with nature.... which I did, however, what I did not at first notice was how over all those years, my creativity and artwork had little by little begun to change.

Little by little I stopped creating my crafts... oak rune disks, naturally died fiber arts, macrame'd pieces, hand crafted jewelry... and much more and instead began to paint more, both digitally and traditionally. It took longer finding natural supplies and was just easier to purchase paints, and pens and still be able to create.

And, I loved it, for awhile. I was accessing my intuition through expressive painting and had many great projects through out. Until, I began to feel less and less satisfied with what I was creating. So then, after the winter drop I realized that I could again find that deep connection I once had by letting go of my perceived limitations to natural art. and so I set the attention and began to research how I exactly I would go about this new transformation.

At first I found lots of inspirational artists using natural materials like these soot paintingsby Steven Spazuk. I started to create artwork out in natural areas when I could, as in my ritual sand drawings.

I kept thinking up new ideas... here I talk about how I saved my sons hair for creating paint brushes and I've collected much more, now that I am in the midst of spring where I am able to scavenge more left offerings from nature I am about to embark on a new frontier with my natural art supplies and paintings! So, from here on out my website, blog and portfolio will be slowly changing, evolving and growing into something new. I am excited beyond words and have not felt such joy in a long time. I hope you all can enjoy this new journey with me!

Creative journaling is a form of creative expression that I do almost daily. I've found that it develops emotional awareness, reinforces self-esteem and aids in problem-solving while also providing a record of artistic growth, struggle and change.

Recently I was asked to help a client with her creative process. Below are some basic exercises that I suggested she use to work through the creativity blocks she was experiencing.

DIALOGUE: Writing a dialogue between one or more subjects helps to identify and separate emotions, ideas, issues and influences in a given creative situation. The primary result of writing dialogue is to clarify the creative situation, to give voice to all aspects of the situation and to restore the situation to it's proper perspective.

GRATITUDE LIST: Thank you lists are very easy to write. It takes no more than a few seconds, some paper and a pen to create a list. Thank you lists, no matter what the length, powerfully challenge negative thoughts, disappointment and discouragement. Lists also help restore the situation to it's rightful place in the clients creative process. Thank you lists are especially useful when pursuing long-term goals and facing crises.

COMPLETED ACTION LIST: What a client thinks can powerfully impact the creative process. Building an artistic career upon past negative artistic experiences blocks creative expression. It also leaves no room for the possibility of current or future positive change. Keeping track of completed actions, no matter how small, provides an accurate record of the client's progress toward her artistic and business goals.

GOAL LIST: Identifying and developing artistic and business goals, provides a clear path for fulfilling the client's dreams. Regular progress through each goal can become a ready source of motivation for the client. The goal list provides a reality check for both the client and the coach, when difficulties rise or progress is being assessed.

CHARACTER TRAITS LIST: Developing and maintaining a list of the character traits reinforces self-esteem, aids in problem-solving, and increases emotional awareness. The client describes one success using one character trait. The client learns to acknowledge her participation in the creative process which will encourage future creative learning and growth.

Keeping a journal of creative work and progress can enrich all areas of an artist's life.